The rain had turned the city into a blur of black streets and silver reflections by the time Kim Taeyung arrived at the abandoned church.

He stood beneath the broken stone archway, staring at the building in silence. The church had been abandoned for more than a decade, yet according to the report in his hand, someone had been living there recently. Seven people had been found dead within a few kilometers of the area over the past two weeks, their bodies drained of blood.

The Hunter Order had already decided who was responsible.

Jeon Jungkook.

Taeyung folded the report and slipped it into the inside pocket of his coat. He didn't need to read it again. He had spent years learning how vampires operated, and the information the Order had given him was enough to make one thing clear: Jungkook was dangerous.

But Taeyung wasn't afraid.

He had been trained since childhood for nights like this.

The Kim family had served the Order for generations. His father had taught him how to recognize vampire tracks before he was old enough to hold a proper weapon, and by eighteen, Taeyung had already participated in his first hunt.

He had learned one rule above everything else.

Never underestimate a vampire.

Taeyung pushed open the church doors.

The smell hit him first.

Rainwater. Dust.

And blood.

He stopped just inside the entrance.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness as lightning flashed through the broken windows. The old wooden benches were covered in dust, and pieces of shattered glass glittered across the floor. Somewhere deeper inside the church, water dripped steadily from the ceiling.

Taeyung reached beneath his coat and wrapped his fingers around the handle of his silver blade.

Then he noticed a faint trail on the floor.

Blood.

He followed it.

It disappeared near the back of the church, where a narrow staircase led to the upper floor.

Taeyung climbed slowly, listening carefully.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No breathing.

That was the first thing that made him uneasy.

A vampire could hide many things, but silence like this was deliberate.

He reached the top of the stairs and stopped outside a half-open door.

“Jeon Jungkook.”

His voice carried through the room.

For several seconds, there was no response.

Then a quiet laugh came from the darkness.

“You took your time.”

Taeyung pushed the door open.

A man stood beside the broken window, looking out at the rain.

He turned slowly.

Taeyung had seen photographs of Jungkook in the Order's records, but none of them had prepared him for the real thing.

Jungkook looked completely relaxed.

There was no fear in his expression.

No panic.

Only a faint amusement that immediately irritated Taeyung.

“So you're the hunter,” Jungkook said.

Taeyung drew his silver blade.

“And you're the vampire.”

Jungkook glanced at the weapon.

“That's a very obvious observation.”

“I didn't come here to talk.”

“I know.”

Jungkook turned fully toward him.

For a moment, neither moved.

Taeyung studied him carefully. There was blood on Jungkook's sleeve, but there was no sign that he had been seriously injured.

“You're Jeon Jungkook,” Taeyung said. “Last surviving member of the Jeon bloodline.”

Jungkook's expression changed slightly.

“So you've done your research.”

“Enough.”

“Then you should know better than to come here alone.”

Taeyung raised the blade.

“I don't need anyone else.”

That finally made Jungkook smile.

“That's what all confident hunters say before they realize they're in trouble.”

Taeyung moved first.

The distance between them disappeared almost instantly.

Jungkook barely avoided the silver blade as it swept past his neck. He stepped backward, then twisted away from Taeyung's second strike.

Fast.

Too fast.

Taeyung adjusted immediately.

He attacked again.

This time Jungkook caught his wrist.

The strength behind the grip surprised Taeyung.

Jungkook's eyes darkened.

“You're better than the others.”

Taeyung pulled his arm free.

“And you're weaker than I expected.”

Jungkook laughed.

That was a mistake.

Taeyung attacked again.

The fight moved through the room, knocking over broken furniture and sending dust into the air. Taeyung was skilled, precise, and relentless. Every movement had been trained into him until it became instinct.

But Jungkook wasn't an ordinary vampire.

He was faster.

Stronger.

And he seemed to understand Taeyung's movements before they happened.

Eventually, Jungkook caught him off guard.

Taeyung hit the wall hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.

Before he could recover, Jungkook was standing in front of him.

One hand pressed against Taeyung's chest.

His other hand caught Taeyung's wrist and held it firmly against the wall.

Taeyung struggled.

Nothing.

The difference in strength was obvious now.

Jungkook leaned closer.

“You should have brought someone with you.”

Taeyung glared at him.

“Get away from me.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm going to kill you.”

Jungkook's lips curved into a slow smile.

“Even now?”

Taeyung tried to reach for the blade he'd dropped.

Jungkook noticed.

He kicked it across the floor.

The silver weapon slid beneath an old table.

Taeyung's expression hardened.

Jungkook looked at him for another moment before finally stepping back.

Taeyung immediately pushed himself away from the wall.

Jungkook could have killed him.

They both knew it.

Instead, the vampire simply walked toward the broken window.

Taeyung retrieved his weapon.

“Why are you running?”

Jungkook looked over his shoulder.

“I'm not.”

He stepped onto the windowsill.

Taeyung raised his blade.

“Stop.”

Jungkook smiled.

“You're still giving me orders?”

“Next time, I won't let you escape.”

Jungkook looked at him for a long moment.

Then he said quietly, “Next time, hunter, don't come alone.”

Before Taeyung could move, Jungkook disappeared into the darkness outside.

Taeyung rushed toward the window, but there was nothing there except the rain.

He stood still, breathing heavily, his hand tightening around the silver blade.

He had failed.

Worse, the vampire had spared him.

Taeyung hated that more than losing the fight.

He looked down at the city below.

“Jeon Jungkook…”

There was no answer.

Only the rain.

Somewhere in the darkness, Jungkook watched from a rooftop several buildings away.

He looked down at the blood on his hand—the blood he'd taken from Taeyung during the fight.

A small smile appeared on his face.

The hunter was dangerous.

Interesting.

But next time, Jungkook wouldn't be so generous.

...And neither of them knew that their first encounter had already changed the course of the lives they thought they understood....

By the time Taeyung returned to the Hunter Order headquarters, the rain had stopped, but the cold had settled deep into his clothes. He walked through the stone entrance without acknowledging the hunters who turned to look at him. His coat was torn at the shoulder, his hair was damp, and there was a thin line of blood running down the side of his neck.

He didn't care.

His mind was still inside that abandoned church.

Still seeing those dark eyes.

Still remembering the hand pressed against his chest.

Still hearing Jungkook's voice.

Next time, hunter, don't come alone.

Taeyung clenched his jaw.

He hated that sentence.

More than that, he hated the fact that Jungkook had been right.

A healer approached him as he entered the medical room. “You're injured.”

“It's nothing.”

She gave him a look that made it clear she wasn't interested in arguing. “Sit down.”

Taeyung reluctantly sat while she examined his shoulder. The wound wasn't deep, but the skin around it was bruised from the impact against the wall.

“You fought him,” she said quietly.

Taeyung looked toward the window. “Yes.”

“Jeon Jungkook?”

“Yes.”

Her hands stopped for a moment. “And you're alive.”

Taeyung said nothing.

She continued wrapping the wound, but her expression remained troubled. “Did you kill him?”

“No.”

The answer seemed to unsettle her more than if he had said yes.

Taeyung stood as soon as she finished. “Don't report anything yet.”

“You know I have to tell the commander.”

“I said don't report it yet.”

His tone ended the conversation.

He left the room and walked straight toward the commander's office.

The door opened before he could knock.

“Come in.”

The commander was sitting behind his desk, several reports spread across it. He was an older man with gray hair and a long scar running across his cheek. His eyes moved over Taeyung's injuries before settling on his face.

“You found him.”

It wasn't a question.

“Yes.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No.”

The commander's expression hardened.

Taeyung expected anger, but the older man simply leaned back in his chair. “Tell me what happened.”

Taeyung remained silent for a moment. He could have told him everything. He could have admitted that Jungkook had been faster than expected, stronger than the reports suggested, and that he had been given a perfect opportunity to kill him but chose not to.

Instead, Taeyung said, “He escaped.”

The commander studied him carefully. “You lost him?”

“I said he escaped.”

A heavy silence filled the room.

Finally, the commander pushed a file toward him. “Three more bodies were found this morning.”

Taeyung opened it.

Photographs.

Three victims.

All drained of blood.

His eyes moved over the pictures until they stopped.

There was a strange symbol carved into the chest of each victim.

A crescent moon surrounded by three thin lines.

Taeyung's fingers tightened around the file.

He had seen that symbol before.

On Jungkook.

Not on his clothes.

On the silver-black ring around his finger.

“You recognize it,” the commander said.

Taeyung looked up. “Where did these bodies come from?”

“Less than five kilometers from the church.”

Taeyung closed the file.

“Then Jungkook is responsible.”

“Are you certain?”

Taeyung hesitated.

That question shouldn't have been difficult.

But something about last night's encounter bothered him.

If Jungkook had wanted to kill him, he could have.

If Jungkook had been responsible for all those deaths, why had he bothered letting Taeyung live?

“I'll find him again,” Taeyung said.

The commander nodded. “This time, you won't go alone.”

Taeyung's expression hardened. “I work better alone.”

“That wasn't a suggestion.”

Taeyung said nothing.

He turned toward the door, but the commander's voice stopped him.

“Taeyung.”

He looked back.

“Don't underestimate what you're hunting.”

Taeyung's eyes narrowed.

“I won't.”

But deep inside, he knew the problem wasn't that he underestimated Jungkook.

It was that he was beginning to realize the Order might not have told him everything.

Across the city, Jungkook stood inside a dark apartment with the curtains drawn. The room was almost empty except for a chair, a small table, and several old books stacked against the wall.

He stared at his hand.

Taeyung's blood was still there.

Jungkook slowly brought his fingers closer to his face and inhaled.

His expression changed.

There was something strange about it.

Something familiar.

Something that shouldn't have been possible.

Before he could understand it, a soft knock came from the door.

Jungkook froze.

Another knock followed.

He moved silently toward the entrance and opened the door.

Nobody was there.

Only a black envelope lay on the floor.

Jungkook picked it up.

The symbol on the front made his expression turn cold.

The crescent moon.

Three lines.

He hadn't seen it in years.

He opened the envelope.

Inside was a single piece of paper.

The Hunter has found you.

Jungkook's eyes moved to the next line.

And now they know what you're protecting.

For several seconds, he didn't move.

Then his fingers slowly tightened around the paper.

Someone had been watching him.

Someone knew about Taeyung.

And worse...

Someone knew about the secret Jungkook had spent years protecting.

He looked toward the dark window.

For the first time since meeting the hunter, there was no amusement in his eyes.

Only warning.

“Who sent you?”

Outside, hidden somewhere in the shadows, a figure watched the apartment without moving.

The hunt had begun long before Taeyung entered that church.

And now, both hunter and vampire were walking directly into a trap neither of them could see.

The following night, Taeyung returned to the abandoned church.

He hadn't planned to come back so soon, but the thought of Jungkook disappearing into the darkness without leaving a trace had bothered him throughout the entire day. The Hunter Order had given him a simple explanation: Jungkook was a dangerous vampire responsible for the recent killings.

Taeyung had accepted simple explanations before.

He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

The church looked even more lifeless under the moonlight. Taeyung pushed the doors open and entered, his hand resting near the silver blade beneath his coat. The room was exactly as he had left it. Broken benches, shattered windows, dust-covered floors.

Except for one thing.

The blood trail was gone.

Taeyung crouched near the floor where he had seen it the previous night. There wasn't even a stain left behind.

He frowned.

Someone had cleaned the place.

A vampire wouldn't bother doing that after a hunt.

Unless they had something to hide.

Taeyung stood and slowly walked toward the staircase. He climbed to the upper floor and entered the room where he had fought Jungkook.

The broken table was still there.

His eyes moved toward the window.

Nothing.

He turned around.

A sound came from behind him.

Taeyung spun instantly, his blade in his hand.

A figure stood at the other end of the hallway.

For one second, Taeyung thought it was Jungkook.

It wasn't.

The man was dressed in black, with his face partially hidden beneath a hood. He stared at Taeyung without speaking.

“Who are you?”

The stranger didn't answer.

Taeyung took one step forward.

The man immediately moved backward.

Taeyung followed.

They reached the staircase.

The stranger suddenly jumped over the railing and disappeared into the darkness below.

Taeyung rushed after him.

By the time he reached the ground floor, the doors were swinging open.

He ran outside.

Nothing.

Only the cold night air.

Taeyung stopped.

He looked down.

A small piece of black fabric lay near his feet.

He picked it up.

There was a symbol stitched into it.

A crescent moon surrounded by three thin lines.

The same symbol from the reports.

Taeyung stared at it.

So someone else had been here.

And whoever it was didn't want to be found.

He slipped the fabric into his pocket and returned to the Order.

This time, he didn't report everything.

Not yet.

Across the city, Jungkook sat on the edge of a rooftop, watching the lights below.

He had known Taeyung would return.

Hunters were predictable that way.

Give them a mystery and they would chase it until they found an answer, even if the answer killed them.

Jungkook wasn't worried about Taeyung.

At least, that was what he told himself.

He had watched the hunter enter the church from a distance. He had seen him follow the stranger and return empty-handed.

Jungkook's eyes narrowed.

The stranger had been there before Taeyung arrived.

That meant someone was searching the church too.

Someone who knew about the symbol.

Jungkook reached into his coat and touched the black envelope from the previous night.

The Hunter has found you.

He still hadn't figured out who had sent it.

That bothered him.

Jungkook hated not knowing who was watching him.

A voice came from behind him.

“You shouldn't have gone back there.”

Jungkook didn't turn.

“I didn't ask for your opinion.”

The voice belonged to a man standing several feet away.

“You were seen.”

“By whom?”

“Someone from the Order.”

Jungkook finally looked over his shoulder.

“Taeyung?”

The man nodded.

Jungkook looked back at the city.

“Interesting.”

“You're taking this too lightly.”

“No.” Jungkook's expression became colder. “I'm simply not afraid.”

The man said nothing.

Jungkook stood.

“Find out who was inside that church.”

“And if it's the Order?”

“Then we'll know how much they actually know.”

He walked toward the edge of the rooftop.

Before leaving, he paused.

“And stay away from the hunter.”

The man looked surprised.

“You're worried about him?”

Jungkook gave him a cold glance.

“No.”

He disappeared into the darkness.

The next morning, Taeyung stood inside the commander's office with the piece of black fabric on the desk between them.

The commander looked at it without touching it.

“Where did you find this?”

“The church.”

“When?”

“Last night.”

The commander's eyes lifted.

“You went back?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to confirm something.”

The commander leaned back.

“And did you?”

Taeyung stared at him.

“Yes.”

“What?”

Taeyung paused.

He wasn't sure whether the commander was hiding something.

But he was certain of one thing.

The Order knew more about the symbol than they had told him.

“I found evidence that someone else was at the church.”

The commander didn't react.

Too quickly.

Taeyung noticed.

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

“Then find out.”

Taeyung picked up the fabric.

As he walked out of the office, one thought remained in his head "the orders are not giving him all the information.